A lunch at Coco Safar, followed by a dinner three days later, were two chalk and cheese experiences, the former excellent and the latter hugely disappointing, especially as it was a birthday dinner treat for a special friend! I had last been to Coco Safar for breakfast early this year, after it opened in Sea Point, having moved from Cavendish Square. (more…)

Today the inaugural ‘2016/2017 Gourmet Guide: Top South African Restaurants, their Chefs & Recipes‘ was launched at the Good Food & Wine Show. Twenty one top restaurants were honored with one or two plates, acknowledging them as the best restaurants in our country.(more…)

The first restaurants are sending out their Winter Specials information, summarised below. The list is updated continuously. Please do not copy and paste our list. We welcome information about new specials:

Mulderbosch Faithful Hound 2013 was named the top Bordeaux-style White blend at the RisCura White Hot Wine Awards, held at Tjing Tjing Torli (in Dear Me) in Cape Town yesterday. The wine was made by Adam Mason and scored 94.

Winemag.co.za Business Manager Jacqueline Lahoud welcomed wine makers and writers, and announced that of 30 entries received, twelve scored 90 or more points out of 100. She said that Winemag is a digital platform for news about the wine industry and showcases its achievements. The first RisCura White Hot Wine Awards for Bordeaux Blends were presented in 2013. Earlier this year the first RisCura Red Hot Wine Awards for Bordeaux Blends were held in Stellenbosch. A niche had been identified to recognize Bordeaux Blends, and RisCura agreed to sponsor the awards. RisCura (more…)

* KWV has won the General Smuts Trophy for Champion Young Wine for its Cabernet Sauvignon and wooded Shiraz blend at the 2015 SA Young Wine Awards. The same wine also won SA Champion Red Blend. Their wooded Malbec won SA Champion Other Red Cultivar, and their wooded Chardonnay won SA Champion Chardonnay. Spier won SA Championship trophies for its Sémillon and wooded Cabernet Saivignon. More than 2100 young wine entries were received, in what (more…)

Last night I attended an interesting group discussion about chocolate, and Honest Chocolate in particular, at their Honest Chocolate Café on Wale Street. It demonstrated that the brand of artisanal chocolate has evolved in the four years since its launch, and that it cares enough to conduct market research to establish what chocolate lovers like and dislike about the brand.

Having received the invitation to attend whilst on holiday, I had not picked up that the event would be more than a chocolate and wine pairing. We had to document our demographic details, our chocolate purchasing habits, and source of information about the brand. Our (more…)

* Mosaic Team South Africa participating in the World Blind Challenge on 18 October in Champagne against 22 other teams will consist of the winners of the South African Wine Tasting Championship 2014: wine writer Samarie Smith, Chris Groenewald, Lizé Oosthuizen, Ralph Reynolds, and Gavin Whittaker. (received via e-mail from Jean Vincent Ridon)

* Nominations for the 34th Diners Club Winemaker of the Year (dry white blends) and 14th Young Winemaker of the Year (30 years or younger, producers of red blend) are now open, the winners receiving a flight to the USA for two as well as prize monies of R50000 and R25000, respectively. The winners will be announced in November. (received via media release from African Sky Media)